Ephesians 4
4
Unity in the Body of Christ
1 Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, encourage you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you were called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is* one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called to one hope of your calling— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all.
7 But to each one of us was given grace, in accordance with the measure of the gift of Christ. 8 Therefore it says,
“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive;
He gave gifts to men.”*
9 (Now the statement,* “He ascended,” what is it, except that He also descended* to the lower parts of the earth? 10 The One who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) 11 So He Himself gave the apostles, and the prophets, and the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers,* 12 to equip the saints* for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son* of God, to a mature man,* to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we will no longer be infants, tossed by waves and driven about by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of men, by craftiness intended to lead us systematically into error.** 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all respects into Him, who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, fitted and held together* by every supporting ligament,* according to the working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Living the New Life in Christ
17 Therefore, I say this and bear witness in the Lord, that you are to no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their thinking, 18 darkened* in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their heart, 19 who, having cast off all moral sensitivity, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more.
20 But this is not the way you learned Christ— 21 if indeed you have heard about Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus: 22 that, with respect to your former way of life, you are to put away the old man,* which is corrupted* by its* deceitful desires; 23 to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and to put on the new man,* created according to God’s likeness* in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
25 Therefore, putting away falsehood, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbour, because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 nor give place to the devil. 28 The one who steals must no longer steal, but instead he must labour, working with his own hands what is good, so that he may have something to give to the one who has need. 29 Let no corrupt speech proceed from your mouth, but only what is good for building up, as the occasion demands,* so that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and brawling, and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.
Notes
4 The expression There is is contextually added to the text for the sake of clarity
8 Quoted from Ps. 68:18
9 The word statement is contextually supplied to the text for the purpose of clarification
9 Some ancient manuscripts read descended first
11 Or So He Himself gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers
12 Greek to/towards the equipping of the saints
13 Some ancient manuscripts omit the genitive phrase of the Son
13 Or to a perfect man
14 Greek with a view to the methodology of the deception
14 One ancient Greek manuscript inserts the genitive phrase of the devil
16 Or being fitted and held together
16 Or by what every joint supplies
18 Or being darkened
22 Or old self
22 Or being corrupted
22 Greek the . In this context, the Greek definite article functions pronominally, thus translating to its
24 Or new self
24 Greek created according to God
29 Some ancient manuscripts read as the faith demands
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Ephesians 4
4
Unity in the Body of Christ
1 Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, encourage you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you were called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is* one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called to one hope of your calling— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all.
7 But to each one of us was given grace, in accordance with the measure of the gift of Christ. 8 Therefore it says,
“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive;
He gave gifts to men.”*
9 (Now the statement,* “He ascended,” what is it, except that He also descended* to the lower parts of the earth? 10 The One who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) 11 So He Himself gave the apostles, and the prophets, and the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers,* 12 to equip the saints* for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son* of God, to a mature man,* to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we will no longer be infants, tossed by waves and driven about by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of men, by craftiness intended to lead us systematically into error.** 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all respects into Him, who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, fitted and held together* by every supporting ligament,* according to the working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Living the New Life in Christ
17 Therefore, I say this and bear witness in the Lord, that you are to no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their thinking, 18 darkened* in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their heart, 19 who, having cast off all moral sensitivity, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more.
20 But this is not the way you learned Christ— 21 if indeed you have heard about Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus: 22 that, with respect to your former way of life, you are to put away the old man,* which is corrupted* by its* deceitful desires; 23 to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and to put on the new man,* created according to God’s likeness* in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
25 Therefore, putting away falsehood, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbour, because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 nor give place to the devil. 28 The one who steals must no longer steal, but instead he must labour, working with his own hands what is good, so that he may have something to give to the one who has need. 29 Let no corrupt speech proceed from your mouth, but only what is good for building up, as the occasion demands,* so that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and brawling, and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.
Notes
4 The expression There is is contextually added to the text for the sake of clarity
8 Quoted from Ps. 68:18
9 The word statement is contextually supplied to the text for the purpose of clarification
9 Some ancient manuscripts read descended first
11 Or So He Himself gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers
12 Greek to/towards the equipping of the saints
13 Some ancient manuscripts omit the genitive phrase of the Son
13 Or to a perfect man
14 Greek with a view to the methodology of the deception
14 One ancient Greek manuscript inserts the genitive phrase of the devil
16 Or being fitted and held together
16 Or by what every joint supplies
18 Or being darkened
22 Or old self
22 Or being corrupted
22 Greek the . In this context, the Greek definite article functions pronominally, thus translating to its
24 Or new self
24 Greek created according to God
29 Some ancient manuscripts read as the faith demands
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).